Is your schedule change big enough to refuse?
When an airline moves your flight far enough, a nonrefundable ticket becomes refundable and you can decline the new one and take the whole fare back. The federal line is 3 hours within the US and 6 hours internationally — but time is only two of seven grounds, and the other five have no clock attached. Put the two itineraries in and this tells you which ones you have met.
Fill in all four times and the answer appears here, with the paragraph of the regulation each part of it comes from.
Where these figures come from
- Regulation14 CFR § 260.2 — significantly delayed or changed flight· quoted from the regulation that sets it
- Regulation91 FR 41556 — enforcement discretion on renumbered flights, to 2027-07-07· quoted from the regulation that sets it
Sourced information, not legal advice.
Decide before you press accept
14 CFR § 260.6 gives the fare back to a passenger who chooses not to fly the changed flight. Accepting the rebooking is what gives that up, and the accept button in the airline's email is the acceptance — there is no undo, and no obligation on the airline to reopen it afterwards. If you are not sure yet, do nothing to the booking. Silence keeps the choice open in a way that one click does not.
Worked cases
Run through the same rules the tool above uses.
My domestic flight now lands three hours later. Can I get my money back?
Yes — one ground is enough, and this meets one.
Grounds: § 260.2(2).
Exactly three hours is inside the rule, not outside it — the text reads 'three or more'. This is the single most common case, and the one people assume they have missed by a minute.
They moved me two hours later on a flight to Mexico City. Is that significant?
No — this does not reach the federal definition.
Threshold for this itinerary: 6 hours.
No. An international itinerary takes the six-hour line, so the same two-hour slip that would nearly qualify at home is well short here. The threshold follows the whole itinerary, not the segment that moved.
My flight now leaves four hours earlier. Does leaving early count?
Yes — one ground is enough, and this meets one.
Grounds: § 260.2(1).
Yes, and this is the limb almost everyone misses. Departing earlier is its own ground under § 260.2(1) — a flight pulled forward can strand you as thoroughly as one pushed back, and the rule treats it that way.
They kept the times but moved me to Oakland instead of San Francisco. Any right?
Yes — one ground is enough, and this meets one.
Grounds: § 260.2(3).
Yes, with no time test at all. A different airport at either end is significant on its own, however convenient the airline says the substitute is.
Same arrival time, but my nonstop is now a connection. Does that matter?
Yes — one ground is enough, and this meets one.
Grounds: § 260.2(4).
Yes. An added connection point is significant by itself, even where the new itinerary lands at the same minute. Note the direction: taking a connection away is not a trigger.
I was downgraded from business to economy. Can I get the whole fare back?
Yes — one ground is enough, and this meets one.
Grounds: § 260.2(5).
Yes, and the whole fare rather than the difference between the cabins. Airlines often offer the difference as though that settled it; choosing the full refund instead is your call, not theirs.
My flight number changed but everything else is identical. Refund?
Not enforceable today — the pause runs to 2027-07-07.
Paused: 14 CFR § 260.6, 14 CFR § 260.9, 14 CFR § 399.80(l).
The one case where the rule and the practice part company. On the text a renumbered flight is a cancellation, but DOT has paused enforcement until 2027-07-07 where you have been rebooked and nothing else moved. Worth asking for; not worth counting on.
My flight was renumbered and I was left without a seat. Can I claim a refund?
Yes — one ground is enough, and this meets one.
Grounds: § 260.2.
This is the edge of the pause, and the case above turns on it. DOT's discretion is conditioned on you being rebooked onto the new number. Without that seat, the flight you bought simply did not operate for you.
One rule is currently on the books but not being enforced
A flight given a new number counts as a cancelled flight under 14 CFR § 260.2, which would make the fare refundable. On 2026-07-07 DOT published a notice of enforcement discretion (91 FR 41556) extending an earlier pause from 90 FR 55999: it will not enforce that refund where you were rebooked onto the new number and nothing else about the itinerary significantly changed. The pause runs to 2027-07-07 while DOT reconsiders the definition.
We are not going to round that in either direction. The right still exists and some carriers will still honour it if you ask, so asking is free. But nobody is currently obliging them, so it is not something to build a plan around — and if any other part of your itinerary moved, the pause does not cover you at all.
Where these rules come from
Every threshold above is read off the regulation itself, and we say which paragraph. Nothing here is our estimate.
- 14 CFR § 260.2 — definitions — Carries the seven grounds, the domestic and international thresholds, and the meaning of a prompt refund.
- 14 CFR § 260.6 — refunding the fare — The operative duty, and the condition that the passenger declined the change.
- 91 FR 41556 — enforcement discretion, renumbered flights — Published 2026-07-07, in force to 2027-07-07.
If an agency sold you the ticket
Part 260 puts the refund duty on the merchant of record — whoever appears on your card statement. For a booking made through an online travel agency that is frequently the agency rather than the airline, which is why each one tells you to call the other. Work out who holds your ticket before you spend an hour on hold with the wrong one.
FAQ
Schedule changes and refunds — common questions
Answers taken from the regulation itself, with the paragraph named so you can check it.
How big does a schedule change have to be to get a refund?
3 hours on a domestic itinerary and 6 hours on an international one, and the wording is "three or more" — so a change of exactly three hours qualifies rather than just missing. But the time test is only two of seven grounds in 14 CFR § 260.2. A different airport at either end, an extra connection, or a downgrade to a lower cabin each make the fare refundable on their own, with no time threshold attached at all. People check the clock, find they are twenty minutes short, and never read the rest of the list.
Does it count if my flight now leaves earlier rather than later?
Yes, and this is the limb most summaries get wrong. § 260.2(1) is written about departures moving 3 or 6 hours or more earlier than booked, and § 260.2(2) about arrivals moving that much later. They point in opposite directions on purpose: a flight pulled forward into the small hours can wreck a trip as thoroughly as one pushed back. A departure that moves later is not itself a ground — it becomes one through the later arrival it usually causes.
My flight number changed but nothing else did. Can I get a refund?
On the text of the rule, yes: 14 CFR § 260.2 defines a cancelled flight by its number, so renumbering means the flight you bought did not operate. In practice, not at the moment. DOT published a notice of enforcement discretion on 2026-07-07 (91 FR 41556) saying it will not enforce 14 CFR § 260.6, 14 CFR § 260.9, 14 CFR § 399.80(l) for a renumbered flight, so long as you were rebooked onto the new number and nothing else about the itinerary significantly changed. That pause runs to 2027-07-07. The right has not been repealed and an airline may still honour it, but no regulator is currently making them. If any other part of your itinerary also moved, the pause does not apply and the ordinary refund right stands.
If I accept the new flight, can I still ask for a refund later?
No, and this is the part worth being careful about. 14 CFR § 260.6 owes the fare back to a passenger who chooses not to fly the changed flight or accept rebooking. Accepting is what closes the door. So the order matters: decide before you press the button in the airline's email, because that button is the acceptance. If you are unsure, say nothing and call — silence preserves the option in a way that clicking does not.
Can the airline give me a voucher instead of money?
Only if you agree to one. 14 CFR § 260.7 says a carrier must not treat you as having accepted a credit or voucher unless you affirmatively said yes, and 14 CFR § 260.10 requires the refund to go back in the original form of payment with no processing fee taken out. A voucher offered as though it were the only option is not the only option.
How long does the airline have to pay?
7 business days for a credit card purchase and 20 calendar days for anything else, counted from when the refund was requested. Those figures are in the definition of "prompt refund" in 14 CFR § 260.2, which is a useful thing to be able to quote by the second phone call.
Does this apply to a ticket I bought through an online travel agency?
The refund right does, but who owes it to you depends on who took the money. Part 260 puts the duty on the merchant of record — the entity shown on your card statement — which for an agency booking is often the agency rather than the airline. That is the source of the loop where each side tells you to call the other. Our OTA ticket custody tool works out which of them holds your ticket before you spend an hour on hold.
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